 Dog skinned, mutilated
Grapeview, WA (US)Date: Jan 14, 2004
County: Mason
Local Map: available
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
|
|
As a national animal-care organization announced a $2,500 reward for information about a Kitsap County dog mutilation, an even more frightening case of a killed and skinned pet is under investigation in Mason County.
Gary Bowman, a Bremerton firefighter who lives in Grapeview in North Mason, said what appears to be the mutilated body of his family's 1-year-old black Lab, Zoe, was found Jan. 11 near their home. That was three days before a skinned dog was discovered in a plastic bag along Chico Way in Central Kitsap.
If the body really is Zoe -- Zoe's vet records make it a near certainty -- it appears the animal wasn't killed until almost a month after she disappeared Dec. 11, Bowman said.
While the family searched for Zoe, it heard from a woman on Agate Road who said theirs wasn't the only black Labrador to go missing early in December.
On Friday, Phyllis Savoie told The Sun that she fears something very wrong is going on with that color and breed of dog in Mason County.
Dr. David Marion of Belfair examined the dog's body found Jan. 11 about "a six-minute walk" from the Bowmans' house. The animal was skinned from the neck to its back legs, he said. She had been dead four days or fewer.
Savoie said she called the Bowmans after finding their lost-dog poster at the Deer Creek store while searching for her own black Lab, Coal, after the dog disappeared Dec. 7. Also posted at the store was notice of a third missing black Lab that belonged to an Agate Road man. She said she called him, too.
A man came down the Savoie's driveway this week seeking his black Lab, which had recently disappeared from his nearby Burleson Road home, she said.
Apparently, only the Bowmans have filed a report with the Mason County Sheriff's Office, said Lt. Howard Armfield. He said he sees no connection between the Kitsap and Mason County mutilation cases.
On Friday, the U.S. Humane Society offered $2,500 "for information leading to the arrest and conviction on animal cruelty charges of the person or persons responsible for the killing, skinning and decapitating of what experts believe to be a dog in Silverdale on or around Jan. 14."
That carcass, found in a plastic bag near Chico Way, was missing its feet. A necropsy was necessary to determine that it even was a dog.
It was a neutered male, 20 to 25 pounds, Kitsap Animal Control determined.
"Whoever could kill and dismember an animal like this will be dangerous to other animals and people in the community as long as he or she is at large," said Kelly Peterson of the U.S. Humane Society.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Rance McIntyre of Kitsap Animal Control at (360) 698-9654, Ext. 224.
Savoie said there commonly are rumors of satanic rituals in connection with disappearing dogs. Stealing them to sell, perhaps to dogfight promoters to train their fighting dogs, is another grim possibility.
Bowman said his family has replaced Zoe with another black Lab they'll watch closely.
"It was tough, empty and lonely" in the house without her, he said.
"I'd be willing to ante up some money for a reward myself if they could catch whoever did this." Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top If you have information on this case, please contact:
Rance McIntyre of Kitsap Animal Control
(360) 698-9654, Ext.
References« Back to Search Results
« WA State Animal Cruelty Map
|
